It seems everyone is making “shoebox floats” for their Mardi Graw celebrations and it got me thinking- how about a shoebox parade as a family reunion activity.  

A shoe box float is just a shoe box flipped over with the lid attached to the back to form a backdrop.  These boxes are then decorated like a parade float.

To decorative your shoe box float gather objects such as glitter, buttons, costume jewelry, feathers, sequins, tissue paper, scrap paper, small shells or rocks, tinsel, foil, markers, paint, crayons, photos, pipe cleaners, buttons, dolls or action figures, or small toys.

Place the large part of the shoebox upside down and attach the lid of the shoebox at one end. Paint the boxes, or cover with paper and decorate.

Choose a theme for your shoebox float parade.  At a family reunion, you could ask participants to decorate their float to represent themselves- a great “getting to know you” activity or assign each family an ancestor to research  and then decorate their float to represent that ancestor.

Rules you might want to consider for your shoebox float parade:

1. Do not place the shoebox on a piece of cardboard larger than the shoebox.

2. Do not create a diorama float using the inside of the box.

3. Float dimensions: The shoebox float must be made of a cardboard shoebox no larger than 13” x 9”. A completed decorated float should not exceed 15 inches in height..

Of course, you’ll want to give out a few awards for the “Most Beautiful”, “Most Creative Use of Materials”, “Judges Choice” and Most Unique floats.

I found a great website for step by step instructions for shoebox floats that might  be helpful.

http://blog.mardigrasoutlet.com/2011/02/create-mini-mardi-gras-parade-float-out.html

When planning your 2012 family reunion consider a shoebox float parade and see just how creative your family can be.

Aunt MO